Krista's Care

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tarasgirl06

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I'm reviewing her care instructions before I pick her up in an hour.

This one makes me sad (and a bit nervous)



I have an XL dog crate that I can confine her to, if need be. But I know all she really wants to do most of her days is sleep in her spot on the media bench and sleep at the foot of the bed. And occasionally do laps across my chest. But this is only for two weeks, and it will be a lot longer if she rips a stitch or gets something (re)infected. At least I work from home. I can try to give her free roam of the office when I'm home and put her on the supervised honor system. But she'll likely have to sleep in the crate.
I know. Our hearts break when we have to confine them or put a cone on them. But it's so they WON'T rip a stitch, and hopefully their sites will stay clean. Krista isn't likely to feel like runnning any marathons for a while, and sleeping, eating and getting lots of love are probably all she's really going to be interested in for her recovery.
 

tarasgirl06

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This is a pretty big crate. But it doesn’t give her much space. I can do better on the food and water bowls. But maybe I need an even bigger crate.
View attachment 339444
Depends on how she feels. It may be just "what the doctor ordered" because you know cats love small spaces and boxes when they're in top form, let alone when they need extra reassurance.
 

daftcat75

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I stopped at Pet Food Express first and got her this. I like that it opens at top which will make it a lot easier for me service it without having to let her out and stuff her back every time.

D4D36444-3950-4B50-BE63-EBD561B6C0B9.jpeg
I still might get us a tent. Or likely an air mattress so I can at least sleep in the same room with her.
 

tarasgirl06

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I stopped at Pet Food Express first and got her this. I like that it opens at top which will make it a lot easier for me service it without having to let her out and stuff her back every time.

View attachment 339448
I still might get us a tent. Or likely an air mattress so I can at least sleep in the same room with her.
That looks nice! And the tent/air mattress plan sounds good, too. What's that place like? There's one locally, but I've never been in or bought anything from them because I do everything auto-delivery from Petco.com.
 

daftcat75

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That looks nice! And the tent/air mattress plan sounds good, too. What's that place like? There's one locally, but I've never been in or bought anything from them because I do everything auto-delivery from Petco.com.
I love PFE. For starters, they have a much better selection of raw and boutique food. Though they are not indie enough for the Rawz patès. They carry the shreds though. But those don’t come in any proteins Krista can have. Mainly what I go there for is, not her input needs, but her output requirements. They have PFE exclusive products (only sold in their stores.). The pee pads I get from them are the absolute best. I’ve tried all the other brands when I couldn’t get to PFE. These go under her litterboxes and even one goes under the upright Bissell in storage. They are so absorbent! I also get their enzyme cleaner which is the only one that doesn’t cause Krista to vomit. Who knows what’s in the others that she’s so sensitive to! I also just like the people who work at PFE better than those who work at Petco or Petsmart. They seem more knowledgeable, more caring, and they enjoy their job more. They also ask about your animals. If you are a regular, they’ll get to know your animals by proxy. Or in person if you bring your dog in. I feel PFE is a much better experience than “the other two.” They’re also really easy about returns if a food or a product didn’t work out. Makes it really easy to buy a pen like this knowing I can take it back if she prefers the crate.
 

tarasgirl06

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I love PFE. For starters, they have a much better selection of raw and boutique food. Though they are not indie enough for the Rawz patès. They carry the shreds though. But those don’t come in any proteins Krista can have. Mainly what I go there for is, not her input needs, but her output requirements. They have PFE exclusive products (only sold in their stores.). The pee pads I get from them are the absolute best. I’ve tried all the other brands when I couldn’t get to PFE. These go under her litterboxes and even one goes under the upright Bissell in storage. They are so absorbent! I also get their enzyme cleaner which is the only one that doesn’t cause Krista to vomit. Who knows what’s in the others that she’s so sensitive to! I also just like the people who work at PFE better than those who work at Petco or Petsmart. They seem more knowledgeable, more caring, and they enjoy their job more. They also ask about your animals. If you are a regular, they’ll get to know your animals by proxy. Or in person if you bring your dog in. I feel PFE is a much better experience than “the other two.” They’re also really easy about returns if a food or a product didn’t work out. Makes it really easy to buy a pen like this knowing I can take it back if she prefers the crate.
They don't have most of the foods we like, but they do have a good selection of others. I looked online. And yeah, the Petco people tend to be absolutely clueless and the PetSmart people even more so. PetSmart seems to be a dog place, so I don't shop there. Really glad I don't have to physically go to Petco any more because I do NOT like dogs and I don't want to be anywhere near them, especially the pitbulls. People are so lax about keeping their dogs away from other people! in the store.
 

daftcat75

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They don't have most of the foods we like, but they do have a good selection of others. I looked online. And yeah, the Petco people tend to be absolutely clueless and the PetSmart people even more so. PetSmart seems to be a dog place, so I don't shop there. Really glad I don't have to physically go to Petco any more because I do NOT like dogs and I don't want to be anywhere near them, especially the pitbulls. People are so lax about keeping their dogs away from other people! in the store.
I love pit bulls. They are the sweetest dogs! They get such a bad rap because a small number of criminal owners terrorize them into extreme aggression. Because that is NOT their normal disposition.
 

daftcat75

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I’m glad I got the octagon. I’ve already had to clean the soft pad because she had a bit of runny poop dribble on it. Fortunately it cleans really easily. She’s knocked over the mason glass of water in the other crate. So that bottom is drying in the shower. And she’s already had a meal. She is stumbling pretty bad. I won’t be letting her roam the office for at least a few days. Luckily the octagon unzips at the top (besides a couple side doors) and its big enough for me to climb in there with her. Which is good because the vet recommended cold compresses a few times a day the next couple of days. And warm compresses after that a few times a day for the next couple weeks.

And I can see into the octagon much easier than the crate. So I can keep an eye on her while I work.
F8585611-098B-41E2-8DE1-34D2F5698817.jpeg
 
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daftcat75

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Looks like a nice set up! You'll just have to keep an extra eye on her when she is feeling better enough to want to climb the netting!!
That's not going to happen anytime soon. She can barely get to her feet. She seems even more unsteady than before the surgery. Now she did just have a major surgery and might still have some drugs in her from the morning. But her eyes look better and her head movements aren't as jerky. I trust the doctor did a good job and I'm trying to keep my hands off her as much as possible this afternoon. I will have to administer meds this evening. But I'll do transdermal pred and see if I can hide her 1/4 pill of the antibiotic in the first bite of dinner tonight. The bupe should be easy because she's not putting up too much of a fight today. I do need to perform a visual inspection of her incision site so I can compare it from one day to the next and make certain it's healing. I'll do that when I bupe her.
 

tarasgirl06

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I’m glad I got the octagon. I’ve already had to clean the soft pad because she had a bit of runny poop dribble on it. Fortunately it cleans really easily. She’s knocked over the mason glass of water in the other crate. So that bottom is drying in the shower. And she’s already had a meal. She is stumbling pretty bad. I won’t be letting her roam the office for at least a few days. Luckily the octagon unzips at the top (besides a couple side doors) and its big enough for me to climb in there with her. Which is good because the vet recommended cold compresses a few times a day the next couple of days. And warm compresses after that a few times a day for the next couple weeks.

And I can see into the octagon much easier than the crate. So I can keep an eye on her while I work.
View attachment 339454
Looks like a nice roomy setup for her -- snug enough but not too snug! Good report, too.
 

daftcat75

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Fingers crossed you recoup a large portion of Krista's surgery costs.

Did they do both ears or just one?
If they cover it, I should recoup 90% minus a $1000 deductible. They covered her 10 day stay that started this thread. It would be a huge stretch of their imagination to pin this on something pre-existing (which is vomiting/IBD and dental.)

Just one ear. The left one. Same one she had a ruptured eardrum January 2019. I'm sure the doctor would have mentioned it if the other one looked infected or inflamed. I wonder if something had been slow growing since then this whole time. I could ask the doc when I talk to her next.
 

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She started to get restless which the doctor told me could be a sign that her pain meds were wearing off. She was pawing at and rubbing her head against the pen door. Her next dose wasn't scheduled until 7 pm. But I didn't want to wait. She seems much more relaxed now.

I gave her pred as transdermal in the good ear. Technically, they are both good ears since the infection was in the middle ear. I'd need to poke through an eardrum to get where they went yesterday. Or up through her jaw. I got a fuzzy selfie of her jaw / under-the-chin. She didn't want to be handled much for a visual inspection. I don't blame her. She also ate about half her dinner and had a pee. I really love the zip top of this pen because it makes it so easy to "service" her (bring in food, take out pee, give her meds, etc) without pushing her away from a door.

I think things will be easier for her for the next 8 hours or so. The bupe has really calmed her down.
 
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